A Question of Loyalty
by WriterPoet
Summary: [NejiSaku] Promises are made to be kept, no matter what the circumstances. It's easier said then done, especially when conflicting emotions interfere.
1. Short Prologue

**Note:** This story starts during Neji's and Hinata's battle during the Chuunin Exams. The rest takes place years later.

"Must be a fight to settle the quarrels then." Sakura said, the bruises from her match with Ino still evident on her face. She glanced back into the crowd as did Naruto, both looking down upon Hinata who was still staring intently at the ground as though she found something interesting to stare it. On the other hand, Neji stood across from her peering through her with eyes that clearly showed no emotion although most people knew how deep the upcoming battle really was.

"The battle is about to begin," stated Kakashi and the two as well as Lee faced the front, their hands gripped on the guardrails.

"Before we fight, let me warn you about one thing, Hinata-sama..." Neji started, staring at the Hyuga family successor with pure animosity. Surprised, Hinata shot her head up and her mouth started to tremble. He stared at her with bitter distaste but she couldn't help but be terrified of the branch family member before her.

"Give up. You're not suited to become a ninja," he laid out flatly. Hinata said nothing, just looked back at him with her body trembling with unrivalled fear.

"You are too kind. You seek harmony and avoid trouble and you just go along and follow someone else's idea."

Hinata bowed her head in shame as Neji continued to mock her.

"And...you have no self-confidence. You always feel inferior. That's why you thought it would be fine to remain a Genin. But you cannot register for the Chuunin Exam unless there are three people. You couldn't refuse the offers from Kiba and your teammate and the truth is that you are taking this exam unwillingly."

It was like poison to Hinata. She swallowed those words and her insides started to melt and bubble. Not from anger, but from the mere fact that his words were true. She wouldn't accept it though; she wouldn't let his mind games get to her although her body contradicted her thoughts.

"Am I right?" He simply asked, his voice lowering to a hiss.

"You're wrong! You're wrong..." She shook her head and clenched her hands together, placing them on her chest. "I...I just wanted to change myself...so I willingly..." She didn't know what to say. It was a lie but she couldn't accept the fact that Neji's games were morphing her into some terrified child.

* * *

'Kurenai paced slowly towards the shoji screen, dressed in her regular jounin apparel. She heard pants from the other side and reluctantly opened the door, revealing a tall man with the same pearly eyes as the young girl that lay helplessly before him.

"Stand up, Hanabi." He ordered, his voice stern that showed no hint of affection or remorse. He had a green shirt draped over him under his white yukata and has both hands gripping a long wooden weapon of some sort of ancient martial arts. The girl in front of him heaved in heavily, her long flowing hair draping over her and a kunai held out in front of her pointing towards the opposite wall.

Kurenai stood there, waiting for the young girl to stand up while the man's face suddenly showed quite a bit of impatience. The girl struggled to stand up and this didn't go unnoticed by Kurenai. She wobbled with every miniscule movement but the man simply stood there, his eyes not wavering in the least.

"Hinata will now be under my command," Kurenai stated, her attention and eyes shifting to the man in front of the struggling little girl. "But are you sure you want that, sir?"

He slowly shifted one pupil to her general direction, his mouth morphing in a frown. He said nothing while she waited for a response. She decided to continue,

"Hinata is the Hyuga family's successor. Missions that Genin undertake have a possibility of death."

The man bowed his head lower, his face suddenly showing an angry expression which Kurenai didn't like at the moment. "Do as you like with her." He growled, his hair moving slightly as a gust of wind passed the three from outside. Kurenai forced herself to look up at him. Her worried-ness had leaked out and now she felt compassion for Hinata. She knew that the Hyuga was a noble and prestigious family and that the third Hokage was proud of the family...but did Hinata's father have to go as far as disowning her because of her lack of confidence and capabilities?

The girl that was wobbling tried to stand up, her hand instinctively setting on her thigh for support as the other hand with the kunai shook uncontrollably. She breathed in and out, trying her best to control her lungs. After realizing that she was panting like a hungry dog, she placed the other hand on her thigh to try and level herself out.

"A defect who is even weaker than Hanabi, someone five years her junior..." A strange type of seriousness appeared in his eyes as he spoke. "...is not needed in Hyuga."

Kurenai shifted her head to the side as her hands shook with the urge to strangle the man before her. She wouldn't of course but she wished that the man would at least recognize that he had a daughter, not a defect. Kurenai bore through him with utter disgust and she swore she thought that he had cracked a grin.

The small girl stood up completely, her face strong with determination. She pulled the kunai out in front of her, its tip pointing at her sensei and also her father. She had started to control her breathing even though it was still evident that her father had pushed her to her limits.

"Are you done talking?"

Kurenai said nothing because she knew that if she opened her mouth, nothing respectful would come out of it.

"Then be gone. You are a bother." He said, closing his eyes and waiting for her to exit.

"Sir," she responded. She turned around and exited the decorated room. She abruptly stopped and turned to her left, surprised that Hinata was standing right there, her body leaned up against the shoji screen. She didn't look happy at all-- in fact she looked like sadness had consumed her entire self. Kurenai had nothing to say.

No words or actions could heal the wounds that Hinata had.'

* * *

Hinata looked away from Neji. Should she listen to Kiba and quit? She didn't know what to do and the thought of fighting him alone frightened her greatly.

"Hinata-sama, you are indeed a spoiled child from the head family." Neji calmly said.

"What..?"

"People cannot change."

Hinata pulled back slightly as those words began to echo off the walls of the arena. They started to eat away at the minute bit of confidence that she had conjured up and now she was beginning to believe them. Everything was starting to make sense: She was a nuisance to everyone around her and she needed to be dealt with. She cannot change and thus everyone around her will become stronger, leaving her to rot in her own state in denial. She needed a way out. Someone who would unlock her cage and set her free.

"A failure is a failure. Its personality and power will not change."

Naruto had heard all of Neji's speech and was sickened. He deemed it _lame_ and wished that Hinata would stick up for herself. He grunted and clenched his fists, mumbling words to himself.

Neji raised his head and opened his eyes, showing her the eyes which proved that they were both of Hyuga decent. "People cannot change, so that's why terms like 'elites' and 'failures' exist. Everyone judges you by how good your face, head, abilities, body shape, and personality are. There are things that cannot be changed. People suffer due to their limits, and live. Just like how we cannot change the fact that I am from the branch family and you are from the head family. My Byakugan has seen many things. That's why I know!...You are just being tough. You are really thinking about how you want to leave this place right now."

Tears streaming down her face, Hinata yelled, "That's not true! I really want to…" She stopped when Neji put his legs apart, his hands clasped into a position similar to the statue placed on the edge of the arena.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata shook violently. She was on the verge of fainting and she felt doing just that was probably the best option. Her body did not allow it though; it wanted her to face him even though she detested it. She put one hand up to her mouth, looking off to the side.

"You cannot fool my eyes. You moved your eyes to the top left corner after you felt my pressure. This indicates that you are recalling a past event. A harsh past of yours. After that, you moved your eyes to the bottom right. This indicates you are imagining physical and mental pain. In other words...you imagined your old self and predicted the outcome of this match from past experiences." Neji concentrated, pumping more chakra to his bloodline limit.

"A prediction that says you will lose!"

Tears swelled up and stood on the very edge of Hinata's lids, her hand up in front of her touching her lips. Nervousness and uneasiness had taken over her body and she was unable to move.

"Don't label people like that, you idiot! Beat him up, Hinata!" Naruto screamed, his fist clearly in front of him insinuating his point. Kakashi, Sakura and Lee stared at him as though he had grown a second head but he continued his declarative rambling nonetheless.

"Hinata!Why won't you say something back! It's making the people watching get angry!" Naruto had caught everyone's attention now. Hinata bowed her head down in shame but took his words into consideration.

The sudden pregnant silence started to suffocate everyone.

Hinata, with a renewed courage, inwardly thanked Naruto and looked up, causing Neji to glance back in surprise.

"So you're not going to give up? Don't blame me later on." He immediately resumed his regular facade.

_I don't want to..._Hinata thought, _run away anymore!_ She started hand signals and whispered Byakugan. Veins appeared around her eyes and her new posture earned a gasp from Naruto. With her legs slightly parted, arms outstretched and eyes full of determination, she stated what she wanted to do.

"Neji-nii-san, let us fight."

* * *

They stood apart from each other, one breathing heavily while the other stood upright, a few sweat beads falling from his head. Hinata looked at Neji and was prepared to continue the fight although he had attacked her heart and her arm with the Jyuken, blocking the tenketsu which caused the chakra to stop circulating. Unbeknownst to her, her heart had already started it's internal bleeding and even though she spat out blood with every few breaths, she was determined to win--in front of the person she admired.

"I can tell with those eyes that you have carried the destiny known as the Hyuga family. You cursed your powerlessness and blamed yourself. But people cannot change. This is destiny. There's no need to suffer, let yourself go."

Hinata shook her head, the blood on her chin sliding gently off her bruised face. She whispered, "You're wrong, Neji-nii-san. Because I can see that you are suffering more than me."

"What?" Everyone seemed to notice that surprise that snuck into Neji's distinctive features.

"You are the one who is confused and suffering inside the fate of the head and branch families." Hinata calmly finished, her voice becoming weak and unstable.

Neji growled and lunged at her, the urge to kill her right then pulsing through his veins. Everyone's shouts fell upon deaf ears as Neji ran towards the immobile girl. Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai stopped him right in his tracks, grabbing his arms to stop him from his rage.

The fight was over but the battle had just begun.

* * *

"I'm sorry to call you in during this harsh time," Hiashi said, placing his tea on the kotetsu in front of him, "but this is a matter of utter importance and now is the only time to take care of it." He looked across from him where Neji and Hanabi sat, his eyes scanning over their figures.

"Is it that important, Hiashi-shishou? Konoha is in the midst of being attacked." He peered at his shishou, unable to comprehend the look in his eyes.

"Are you doubting my decision?" Hiashi growled, ready to teach the boy a lesson. He hadn't forgotten what his brother, Neji's father, had done for his sake but that wasn't a good enough reason to give him lip.

"No Hiashi-shishou. I am sorry."

Hiashi responded with a grunt, sipping more of his green tea.

The tense air that loomed over the relative was intoxicating but Hanabi felt it was better than the harsh words she had received from her father earlier. But she had an uneasy feeling. Something bad was going to happen but she couldn't pin point what it was...just yet, that is.

"I heard from Kurenai-san that you fought Hinata today. Am I correct?"

Neji merely glanced up at Hiashi and blinked once before staring at the cup that sat on the kotetsu.

"I also heard that you used the Jyuken and Byakugan in combination. Further more, is it true that you attacked Hinata's heart, causing her to go through ventricular fibrillation?" He calmly said, catching the attention of the young Genin.

"Is that a probl--"

"You may be a genius and you may be the strongest of the children in this family but you are a branch member! I am indeed sorry to say this but no matter how strong you become, your sole duty is to protect the main family!" He roared, causing Hanabi to nearly leap into the air from the tone of his voice.

"We were chosen to fight. I fight to win. I do not give remorse to those who challenge me no matter who they are." Neji stood up, intent on leaving so that he could continue to protect his village that was currently under attack. Hiashi stood up also, shoving a hand out in front of him and gesturing for Hanabi to stand beside him.

"You are to protect the head family members--even the defect..."

That sentence alone caused Neji to halt mid step.

"...and under no circumstances are you to kill a head family member. Hinata is now in the emergency ward and has undergone extensive surgery to survive. Although I do not accept her as my daughter, she is a head family member and therefor needs to be protected. Your chuunin rank can wait."

Neji seethed, his fists clenching together as Hiashi motioned for him to turn around.

Hiashi sighed, whispering dejectedly, "I'm sorry Neji but you must learn your lesson." He tapped Hanabi's right shoulder and she knew what to do. With a simple hand sign, Neji was forced to the ground as a horrid pain shook his body. He suddenly had a massive headache and, in reflex, grabbed his head, tearing off his headband to reveal the pulsing family seal.

His hatred towards the main family had just gotten deeper.

TBC


	2. Training

Sakura woke up and lay still for a moment, wondering why she had this feeling that today was going to be special. Then she remembered, and she leaped out of bed to throw open the groggy curtains and check the weather. She and her new sensei were going to start a special hands on training today and she was going to become stronger. She threw the window wide open and took a deep breath of the sparkling clean air. It was still early, but the sun was already glistening over the forest. Perfect. It couldn't be better.

"For Kami's sake, Sakura, close the window before you freeze us to death."

In the other bed her old sensei, Kakashi, burrowed down under his covers. Sakura whirled around to drag her jounin clothes out of the closet, then she turned back around for one last look. Straight ahead of her was a tall mountain. Old trails snaked their way to the top and in Sakura's imagination, she was running up it, trying to escape a demon of some sort. She could just see the start of the trail high above her, then it curled away out of sight into the trees. The remnants of snow gleamed in the sunlight. It seemed to be beckoning her, luring her up to it. She couldn't wait.

Then, as she stared at it, a cloud passed in front of the sun, and in an instant the whole mountain was plunged into shadow. Without any warning at all a violent shiver shook Sakura from head to toe and she looked down to see goose bumps standing out on the bare skin of her arm. An uneasy, queasy feeling flooded through her and she shut the window with a bang.

"That's better," Naruto groaned, and cautiously poked the tip of his nose out from underneath the blankets. "Are you still planning on training with that old man?"

Sakura looked back at the mountain and the forest just outside of Konohagakure. The sun was bathing it with light again and her weird feeling of the moment before seemed ridiculous. She pushed if out of her mind and started to put on her clothes over her pyjamas. "He's not old Naruto and yes...I am going to train with him today. Sometimes I wonder how I can live with you two..."

Naruto chuckled. "We had no choice Sakura-chan! Remember? Tsunade-sama needed our apartments for the new tourists."

Sakura sighed, throwing a pillow over at Kakashi's bed. "Wake up or we're going to be late for meetings with our respective people."

Kakashi merely looked up and cracked a smile under his mask before plopping his head back down on the pillow.

"It can wait."

* * *

A few uneventful hours later, Sakura lay on her back in a stubby field just outside the main gates of Konohagakure, watching the heavy clouds build up above her. She had a dreadful fascination in the way the clouds boiled and billowed up, towering higher and higher until they ended in strange, anvil-shaped heads. There was a line of them, and they were definitely coming nearer. She could even see the dark curtain of rain spreading down from them and taste it in the moist breeze on her cheek. 

Sakura picked herself up and dusted the dried twigs and grass off the bottom of her shorts absent-mindedly, still staring skywards. It was the first time her sensei had been late.

"Doesn't seem to me like you're ready, kunoichi." A monotonous voice called out from the clearing. Sakura shot up and glanced back, flashing a grin as her sensei walked forward. "Well, let's get started." He pointed out in the general direction of the mountain and Sakura looked at him incredulously, unable to grasp what he meant.

"Kazuki-sensei, what do--"

"Kunoichi, not everything will give you the answer clearly. You must learn that the answer may not come at all or it will be too obvious for you to notice. Don't give up so easily."

Sakura frowned at his degrading statement but hid it nonetheless. She stared tediously at his arm, trying to find any trace amounts of evidence that would be deemed relevant in finding her answer. After squinting her eyes to block the blinding sunlight, she scowled when she found it. Right there, on his protruding finger, were the words: We're playing a game. You run, I chase.

She fixed her posture and craned her neck to look at the mahogany eyed man with misunderstanding. She was about to open her mouth in protest but he caught her by surprise when he started to chuckle. A light-hearted chuckle at that but it aggravated Sakura.

"What?"

"Obey the instructions, kunoichi. Endurance...you will need it."

Sakura smiled and leapt onto the first tree branch. "Will you call me by my name if I win?"

"Of course, kunoichi." He smiled and shooed her away, taking out a scroll and scribbling some new information onto it.

* * *

Sakura by herself was a swift and efficient runner. She had no difficulty finding the trail that her sensei had left from the point he had turned in a westward direction from a river, and the only thing that held her back was the sudden downpour, which she detested. The hunt had gone on for about an hour and nothing had come out of it except for the water that poured heavily onto Sakura's tired form. She had no choice but to huddle miserably under shelter during the shower, waiting until the last drop had fallen before exiting her confinement. Then she had to pick her way with extreme distaste through the wet grass and undergrowth, searching for the only trail of her temporary sensei. 

She left no trace of her progress; branches parted slightly here and there, sometimes there was a momentary rustling of dried leaves, but never a twig cracked, and not a stone was dislodged from under her soft, chakra infused feet. Without noisy Naruto and boring Kakashi she saw everything and was seen by none, or so she thought.

She leapt onto another branch, watching the sharp, inquisitive nose and bright eye of a fox peer from the bushes; she saw the sinuous twisting bodies and mean vicious faces of mink and marten; she watched a small bird leap above her, framed in the leafless branches of a birch, and watched the beautiful tail stream out behind when the animal leaped a clear four metres through the air into the swaying green obscurity of pine. She watched with disdain the lean grey timber wolf loping quietly along the trail she crouched above.

_Everything's so serene and peaceful. _

Sakura went on through the late morning mists, still following the trail of her sensei. She must have been on the border at one point, through several kilometres of deep spruce and cedar swamp, so that the going was, alternately, soft and dry and strewn with needles, then damp and spongy. It was a gloomy place and Sakura appeared uneasy, frequently glancing behind her as if she thought that she was being followed. Several times she crouched on a branch of a tree, watching and waiting. But whatever it was she imagined showed equal cunning, and never appeared.

She remained wary and suspicious, and felt with every nerve in her body that something was following--something evil. The bush was coming to an end: far ahead of her she could see patches of blue sky which meant more open country. An old fallen tree lay ahead of her on the trail she was following. She jumped onto the trunk to cross it, pausing for a brief second, then her neck hairs rose erect; for in that moment she heard quite distinctly and felt rather than saw the presence of a following animal--and it was not very far behind her.

"It's big."

Without further delay she leaped onto another high branch and looked back along the path. Into view, moving with a velvet tread that equalled her own, came what appeared to be a large cat. But it was different than the stray cats Sakura would usually see around her village. This one was at least four times as large, chunky and heavy, with a short bobtail and thick furry legs. The coat was a soft grey, overlaid with a few darker spots. The head differed only from an ordinary cat in that it was framed in a ruff of hair, and the ears rose into tufted points. It was a cruel face that Sakura saw and she recognized instinctively a wanton killer--and one that could easily outclass a kunoichi such as herself in ferocity and speed.

"Not strength though," she mused, lacking any seriousness in the current situation. Then she felt something. She peered down at the cat and felt chakra surround it.

_It's a monster from kuchiyose no jutsu... _

Sakura knew her chances of killing it were slim, considering that her sensei had immeasurable strength with ninjutsu. She figured her only means of staying alive was to escape. She slowly backed as far up the young birch could go and crouched there, the slender trunk swaying under her weight. The cat stopped in the centre of the trail, one heavy paw lifted, gazing up with gleaming malicious eyes. Sakura looked around, measuring her distance.

With a light bound the beast landed on top of the fallen tree trunk, and for another endless moment the two pairs of eyes tried to outstare one another, Sakura making a low, eerie hissing noise in a vain attempt to frighten the monster. Pumping chakra and into her arm then discharging it with equal speed and percision, Sakura tapped the branch which caused it to crumble, hurdling the cat to the ground along with Sakura. Jumping at the last moment, Sakura caught hold of another branch but found herself in the same predicament when the cat leaped for the birch, straddling it easily with powerful limbs. Digging into the birch with long claws, it started up the trunk towards her.

Sakura, arms infused with chakra, whipped out a kunai and channelled her chakra into the weapon, throwing it hastily at the animal. It simply smashed it away, sucking up the chakra into its limbs which doubled its size. Sakura inwardly cursed herself for her misfortune but that was short lived as the animal opened its mouth, revealing a sappy green liquid. It spat it out quickly, the liquid landing on Sakura's foot as she leapt up higher into the tree.

"Damn it," she whispered as a stinging sensation pulsed through her. She glanced down to inspect the damage--a torn limb. She did not have the time to heal it and she needed to escape because she knew that a kuchiyose monster was nearly impossible to be beaten by a mere kunoichi...not in her state, anyway.

Sakura flung a shuriken at the monster which proved to be successful when it embedded itself in the cat's right arm, earning a wail from the beast. The beast stood still, pawing at the shuriken that had poison laced on the edges which was now travelling through its blood system. Using this diversion as her chance, Sakura began to steadily stand up but was abruptly stopped by chords that were latched around her body and the tree trunk.

"What the f--"

"Kunoichi, you should be more prepared. You will be outnumbered more often than not and you should be able to escape such situations quickly...that is, if you want to live." The voice rang through the forest and a gust of wind came along with it, giving Sakura that uneasy feeling. She struggled to get free and managed to escape from the chords. But by then the monster had already dislodged the shuriken from its body and healed itself to her dismay. It reached a paw out to its full length and raked at Sakura, tearing a strip of bark away.

"He's toying with me," she mumbled, straining her foot in order to stand up. She tried to strike back with her fist, but the tree was waving wildly, and she lost her grip with the movement and fell. The tree was so far bent over that she had not too far to fall, but even in that short time she twisted in the air and landed graciously on one foot, only to hear a heavier thud a few metres away. The tree, whipping back, had dislodged the beast almost at the same time, but the heavy animal had fallen with more impetus and less agility; for a split second it remained where it was, slightly winded. Sakura took advantage of it and ran towards the beast, hands outstretched.

"Shōsen jutsu." She concentrated chakra to her hands, attempting to use her hands as a scalpel. She lunged forward and implanted her palm into the beast's chest, severing its muscles fibres at the point of contact. The monster hissed and lunged out at Sakura, grabbing her Jounin vest and pulling her towards it.

"That tickles. Kunoichi, you need to work on your taijutsu." The beast hissed, spewing some of its poisonous saliva onto her cheek. It then threw her forward, her body crashing into another flimsy birch tree and cracking it in two.

* * *

Clad in his usual anomalously green spandex suit, Lee scanned the torched area before him while his two companions masked their chakra perfectly a few miles away from his hidden position. He watched a large man, probably a lifter, slowly pace towards a dome-like building with torches lit at measured intervals. Some torches were burnt out, giving the dome an eerie appearance although it was nearly noon. It seemed as though the building was reflecting the sunlight; it's shadow seemed to cast itself over the rays of light that attempted to overpower the darkness. Lee's eye twiched at the permeating fog that loomed around the building but kept his eyes fixed on the main objective. 

Their objective happened to be a missing nin only known as 'Shi' from Sunagakure. He was known to be extremely cruel and had a unique scar across his chest from a fight with Sabaku no Gaara--when Shukaku had taken control of him. He had brutally murdered all of the prodigous Kin-niku clan, eliminating everyone who was the owner of their strange bloodline limit that enabled them to contract and stretch their muscles. This ability was envied by all five villages and it's leader, the infamous Yuki, had killed Shi's father while Sunagakure was at war with a rival village over relevant land rights.

That and the blunt fact that he was an arrogant yet powerful basterd who needed to be eliminated at once before more innocent lives were stolen because of his rash and ruthless methods of extracting information was all that Tsunade had told them. Also, she needed a scroll that he had stolen from the Third's office while he was in power. It happened to be the exact day that the Third had gone to the memorial stone and confronted Iruka about his parents and their couragous effort to protect their very village.

The man was heavily protected with shinobi on either side of him, arms close to their weapon pouches. Kakashi and Neji exchanged perplexed glances when Neji had reported that their chakra systems had barely been used in their lifetimes. A lucky strike for the three since they were not particularly in the mood to create unnesessary altercations with the enemy. In this case, the enemy were an assemblage of unexperienced shinobi who couldn't throw a kunai at the moon if it was staring them right in the face.

Lee smiled promptly before his gaze was shifted to a moving object roughly one hundred metres ahead of him. He rubbed the accumulating sweatbeads off his fuzzy eyebrows before quietly jumping off to the next branch for a closer look at the strange object. He blinked once and instantaneously blinked again after watching the object move on some sort of tracks. It was astounding, he had never witnessed such a phoenomenon in his life. The object seemed to move flawlessy along the tracks although the sound it created was nearly deafening.

Tapping his ear piece to turn it on, he moved it to his lips and began to talk. "Kakashi-san and Neji-san, it seems like the enemy has created some sort of monster!"

Another strange glance was shared between said two and they also tapped their ear pieces to respond. Kakashi, mouth open to explain was suddenly stopped by a blood curdling scream from the building they were silently watching for the last two hours. The trio quickly glanced at what seemed to be the projection point and their eyes widened as a small body was brought out of the torn down warehouse, the person's clothing torn and burned to shreds.

"Tsunade-sama said that there would be a minute chance that our objective had slaves. She didn't mention hostages," Lee whispered, his voice cracking due to the lack of water he drank over the past day.

"She had mentioned that the basterd may have captured slave women and may be using them for prostitution and smuggling weapons," Kakashi bluntly replied, a kunai in hand to strike. Their moment was soon but they just needed the right moment to strike. If they struck too early, they still would have emerged victorious but the casualties would have been immeasurable considering that the scream that was heard earlier came from more than one person. Also, if they struck too late, their objective could of escaped alive and with _their_ scroll.

"Disgusting," Neji spat, motioning for the other two to go.

The leapt out of the trees, arms hastily tearing off the obscuring branches. They had come so far and they weren't about to lose to an old man and his barbie dolls. Kakashi flicked open his newly aquired pouch on his opposite leg and tossed a smoke bomb into the area, surprising the shinobi and the construction workers who were currently eating their lunches. Four kunai in between his fingers, Neji quickly tossed them through the billowing smoke. They soared through the air with lightning speed, earning four unique yet ear piercing whails from their targets.

The area was now in a sudden panic which was the last scenario the trio wanted to face. Nevertheless, they needed that scroll and they all felt compelled to save the innocent lives that were hanging from an extremely thin thread.

* * *

Sakura slowly arose, her hand rubbing the pulsing scar on her back. She never expected her sensei to start with such a harsh approach. Worst still was the fact that he seemed to be enjoying her pain, engulfing every bit of it. If she had come more prepared, then she would of had the chance to beat the approaching beast but that chance had disintegrated while the beast had pursued her running form, launching poisonous saliva onto her clothing and the winding trail. She was nearly immobile and she needed a quick plan of action and a next approach. 

In the academy, she had harshly learnt that in battle a shinobi or kunoichi may not have those precious moments to configure a plan and may have to work on instinct alone. They had done some procedures and, of course, Sakura had come second to Sasuke in learning and completing them. She was proud but she was also naive enough to never actually _try_ to use those same skills in the heat of the moment.

And there she was, in the heat of the moment, with nothing at all. Her brain had fried along with her foot muscles but she assumed it was going to be alright. The beast wouldn't kill her...would it?

Complete silence fell into the clearing, and all seemed peaceful and quiet in contrast to the wildly beating heart of one desperate Haruno Sakura. She slowly climbed up another tree, scouting for the large cat around the bushes. She was so engrossed that she failed to hear the soft downwind approach of two men wearing their anbu uniforms. She glanced over the blocking green patch of trees and smirked once a flash of grey was spotted over the clearing, just past the river. Her eyes tracked it's path and a gasp escaped her pursed lips when the weakened branch of the birch tree collapsed. Before the branch fell, Sakura pulled her limp body to the lowest arc and when it did fall, she jumped and the branch acted like a coiled spring, sending her body forward in one leap.

Landing gracefully one both legs, a gasp of pain came from Sakura before she ran forward, prepared with a plan of action to defeat the beast.

* * *

"Lee, are you finished escorting the women to their villages?" Neji calmy asked into his ear piece while Kakashi silented stood beside him, both waiting for a response. 

"Yosh! These women sure are happy to be alive! Rightfully so I guess...no one deserves to go through suffering like that," he slowly admitted, the stream of tears strolling down his cheeks.

"Neji and I are nearing Konoha so send your report to Kazekage-sama and leave once your done. We'll file our mission report once we return so you can go straight home once you do too." Kakashi stated, a smile gracing his masked lips--under his anbu mask.

"That mission was easier than expected though!" Lee claimed, "It lasted longer than I anticipated but as soon as I get back, I'm off to see Sakura-san and Gai-sensei!"

"Alright, see you then." Kakashi said before turning off his ear piece along with Neji. They both stared at the river ahead and the same thought ran across their minds. They jumped off the trees and walked over the side, dipping their hands in to wash off the dried blood and clean their weapons. The stench was nearly unbearable and the weapons needed to be washed for the longest time.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu."

A small dog appeared beside Kakashi and the dog merely smiled before turning around and coming face to face with the pearly eyed man.

"May I ask who you are?"

Neji's mouth slowly twitched in response but he stayed as emotionless as he could. It wasn't suppose to always be a surprise when a kuchiyose beast talked but Neji never got accustomed to the speaking animals or insects before.

"Pakkun meet Neji. Neji meet Pakkun." Kakashi smiled and took off his anbu mask, dipping it into the cold water and washing off the drops of blood that had splashed onto it when he slashed an enemy across the throat in a crude display of pure anger.

"I believe that we've meet before." Neji said, stroking his wet hands through his chestnut hair, untangling the strands that were glued together by more blood.

"So, Kakashi, why have you summoned me here?" Pakkun impatiently asked, tapping his foot rythmatically from sheer annoyance.

"I heard some unruly noises of trees shattering when we were moving so I just wanted to know if you could pick up any blood or anything."

"Kakashi, my noise picks up twenty five times more scents than any human. With so much blood around me I'm unable to track the scent of anyone else's." Pakkun inwardly sighed before pacing around in circles, clawing his paws and systematically digging out the dirt to create holes.

"Well, use this." Kakashi reached into his pocket and his hand fidgeted there for awhile until he gently grasped a long string. He pulled it out slowly as to not tear the gently frabric and waved it in front of Pakkun's nose for him to analyize. Pakkun leaned in closer and his wet nose touched the soft frabric before it was pulled away violently. Pakkun glanced up at Kakashi and nearly shivered after seeing the hidden anger in his eyes. He took it as a warning and sniffed it from a safe, precautionary distance.

"Sakura..?"

Kakashi nodded and placed the ribbon back into his anbu pants. "She's training with her sensei today and it might be her that was screaming earlier. I heard in when we had just completed the mission. It wasn't a scream--more like a wild battle cry. And I know Sakura's when I hear it." Kakashi smiled and ruffled his hair, gliding his calloused hands over the silky strands.

"I smell her blood," He immediately replied and jumped into a nearby birch, motioning with one paw for the two to follow.

* * *

_I've got it. A three step attack. All I have to do is get that beast into a clearing and he's done for. _

Sakura kept reassuring herself while wrapping the bandage around her swollen ankle. She slid her hand over her sweaty hair line and glided her fingers back to slide the pink hair behind her ears. She slowly stood up, grabbing the broken tree limb as support. She closed her eyes and slowed her chakra flow, concentrating on that of another's. Sensing the flowing chakra to her north, she cracked a faltering smile and quickly tied strings to her kunai.

"Let's get this started."

She grabbed hold of a tree branch and jumped onto it, pushing away others and quickly swopping through the trees. The wind was smooth and didn't cause her to squint her eyes to avoid flaoting debree. Landing on the last tree before the clearing, she turned her back to the animal in the centre to set up.

_If he thinks I'm not concentrating, he'll underestimate me and come attack._

The large cat licked it's paw gently, glancing into the horizon and smirking when it saw the two gloomy figures approaching in the company of a small dog. It waited until the figures were right in front of it and then started to meow pathetically--something it was not good at quite frankly.

"This is a kuchiyose," Kakashi stated, staring at Pakkun with confused mismatched eyes which Pakkun was not able to see through the protection of the anbu mask.

"Sakura's here," Pakkun replied before a thick fog suddenly covered their view. As though it was second nature, Kakashi and Neji immediately took out their swords. Neji quickly activated his Byakugan, scanning the area and snarled when something wasn't right.

"Kakashi..."

"I know. This is a special smoke bomb, your bloodline limit won't work here. Stay on alert but don't leave the premises, there may be more enemies."

Pakkun dissappeared in a puff of smoke and the two stood there with the meowing kuchiyose in front of them, masking it's chakra perfectly.

Sakura hopped off the tree and hurled several kunai into the permeating smoke. Kakashi and Neji easily defected the weapons with their swords but were surprised when what seemed like scraps of paper merely floated around them. Sakura whipped a kunai with an exploding tag attached into the fog and an immense explosion rocketed her into a tree. The animal did not emerge to Sakura's annoyance but she sensed a chakra flow and knew that was it. Gathering the last of her chakra into the tip of her knuckles, she lunged forward into the cloud of smoke and struck the cat.

It didn't feel like a cat...

There was no fur...

No blood curdling screams of pain from shattering animal bones. Bones had shattered though.

But it was not her primary target's...

It was a human; a human's palm that she had struck with her superhuman power.

TBC


	3. Lacking

The ground was soft due to the downpour earlier as Sakura staggered back, her face twisted into many different forms of dismay. It felt like she was being devoured by quicksand, physically and mentally. She imagined the illusion where she was pushed into the sand itself and left there to suffer painfully as it took her body and her life. She would of gladly accepted that fate if she had hurt someone she knew. She probably ended that person's life as a shinobi if they even were one. Such a hard and precise blow would of shattered all of their bones in their hand and severed vital veins...chakra and blood wise.

She stopped the walking motion once her back hit the tree she happened to have pounced out of and she slowly tried to calm herself, her hand feriously clawing through her pink locks. The sun set to the highest point in the day meaning it was about to start it's trek to plunge the Earth back into darkness. Sakura wouldn't have minded if that actually happened right there since she didn't want to recognize the face of the person she had hurt. Their expression would be carved into stone and etched into her fragile mind so that she would remember it before anything she did.

She failed to notice the smoke dissappear. To her surprise and luck, the special smoke bomb she had concocted and used to blind her target had lasted longer than expected, giving her much needed time to escape. But she couldn't escape. Her body relented but forced her to stay immobile. It wanted her to see the victim, the one she had hurt so severely although her mind felt the exact opposite. Unfortunately, her mind had no say as of yet; it seemed to have lost all control of her body.

And anyway...where was her sensei?

Her mind was rudely brought back to reality when she felt someone's heated gaze on her quivering form, their eyes piercing through her. She slowly looked up and a gasp escaped her parted lips when her gaze met up with the intimidating but beautifully painted eyes of an anbu mask. She could not see the owner's face nor the hair but she could obviously tell that it was indeed a man because of the sculpted body that seemed to glisten through the tight but efficient pants of the uniform. Her eyes looked down immediately at the kneeling body that came into view while the dust settled. She bit her lip when the smoke dissappated around the hand and her eyes widened drastically.

His glove that was essentially black now was a crimson red and was torn in several places. Smoke was rising from the surface as the burns bubbled and more blood dripped quickly off it, creating a puddle of red right in front of his aching feet. She stared intently and her body didn't seem to move although someone was in need of her skills. She was capable but she felt compelled to run away and never face that person again.

Her body decided to move of it's own accord when she heard the man hiss from the excruciating pain that overtook his senses and shook his body wildly. His anbu mask made it nearly impossible for her to analyize him and figure out if she knew him or not, but that was the last thing on her mind as she made her way over.

He craned his neck and another hiss escaped him while his partner took a step back. She assumed that he thought she was a monster but she didn't fall into that large menacing hole appropriately named denial that stood before her because she would have thought the same thing if she was in his shoes. Crouching down to inspect the damage, she hesitantly put one hand forward and stuck it right side up to see if he'd accept her help. He placed his palm into her hands and she instinctively but slowly took off his bloodied and torn glove. Her jaw clenched in a display of sympathy for the man after she felt his deformed hand in hers, it pulsing while blood poured out from every scrape. She gently tapped special parts of the hand she knew from her practice and sighed heavily.

_There are twenty seven bones in one hand that are connected with muscles and tendons and I seemed to have broken and torn them all.  
_  
"You must stay calm. I'm going to tie a piece of cloth over your hand so it may sting a little. Just a little though. It will stop the blood from circulating. Your blood cells are not able to recover quickly and you may faint and that could lead to potential problems..."

"I'm not a fool," he replied but Sakura was unable to make out his voice properly.

_How ironic..._  
_  
_Now she truly felt sorry for the man before her. But she also felt a tinge of confusion sneak it's way into her system. She had failed her anbu test by two points but she had gained some valuable experience which seemed to contradict her current situation.

* * *

_'The area she was in was surrounded by towering monoliths, each representing different shinobi and kunoichi that Sakura had never seen before. The wind blew violently and it seemed to shift the monoliths into many shapes, all becoming more sculpted and crafted. It was beautiful to watch but it couldn't overpower the nervous sensation in the pit of Sakura's stomach that rivaled her pounding heart. _

_She stood in the middle of the desolute area created by a genjutsu and clapped her hands together, placing chakra onto the points and extending it out to use as claws. She had learned this technique in the tutoring of Tsunade but never had the opportunity to put it to good use. She scanned the area slowly, taking in all of the surroundings. There were several stalagmites that rose from the ground in some sort of distraught pattern while sand blew wildly, with the wind, in all directions._

_"Haruno, in a situation such as this you should not use your chakra," a man stated, his voice echoing through the field and sending a shiver down her spine. If there was going to be an instructor, couldn't she at least see his face?_

_"Why not?" She hesitantly asked, her voice muffled by the newly acquired anbu mask. She still had yet to paint it but she would only get that rare but highly respected chance if she passed the test._

_"Do you know where you are?" The voice echoed and rang in her ears. She could make out that it was an older man (not much older than her) but was still of a higher stature. How did she know? She had the amazing sixth sense to tell these things._

_"In genjutsu..?" Sakura sarcastically replied, a snicker following._

_"Don't act like such a smart ass. You don't know where you are. You don't know who you're fighting. You can't even tell if there's anyone here. Why? They're masking their chakra. Didn't you learn this in the first year of academy?"_

_"I--uhh.."_

_"No, you were too busy leading a Sasuke fan club to remember any essential skills. A shinobi and kunoichi should be up to par with all the skills needed to battle and you're not even near the expectation. If you weren't a student of Hokage-sama at one point then I'd drop you back down to Chuunin. You disgust me...pathetic little girl. Leave!" His last word was eccentuated greatly and his voice rang through Sakura's tense ears._

_The genjutsu was immediately dispelled and Sakura ran towards the door, tears streaming down her twisted face. They dripped onto her anbu uniform but she didn't notice until a man stopped her in her tracks._

_"Where do you think you're going?" He calmy asked and Sakura recognized it as the same voice that just tore through her fragile pride._

_"I'm leaving! Aren't you done?" She retaliated, throwing a fist at his chest which he easily caught, whirling her around and pushing her against the wall._

_"Life is not easy. It's truly sad that you think you can become a full fledged kunoichi and help your fellow anbu in your condition. I wasn't planning on repeating myself but I will for your benefit. You're pathetic. Now, give me your anbu uniform and mask and get out of my sight." He pointed to the change room and Sakura made her way there._

_She changed hastily and left three minutes later in her signature but larger red dress, whipping her clothes at the man and grabbing the door handle and smashing the door into pieces before jumping onto the anbu headquarter's roof._

_

* * *

_What had she learned from that? She learned that her anbu sensei was an arrogant bastard who deserved a kunai up the ass. Well, she actually learned that one must mask their chakra when in an unknown situation. She had blindly attacked the being with the only circulating chakra she felt. Unfortunately, she was unaware that Kuchiyose monsters had the ability to mask their chakra but it was too late now. 

It was like trying to put a jig saw puzzle together but forgetting that one of the pieces were missing. It seems to make no sense until you're nearly done solving it, then everything comes together. After that, you feel like a complete moron and you pack up the puzzle, looking around frantically to make sure no one witnessed that embarrassing moment.

First off, the current situation was in no way representing a jig saw puzzle. If it was, there'd be every piece except for one missing and Sakura would have never bought the damn puzzle in the first place. But there she was, in 'the current situation', and what was her motive?

"I was training with my sensei."

The two anbu figures snapped their heads up and looked at her or either the tree behind her, she couldn't tell. She then realized that she had said that out of nowhere and laughed nervously.

"This is not a laughing matter," the accomplice member said. Sakura immediately stopped but the man continued. "It seems that your abilities are lacking as a medic and we have no apparent use for you here. I'm going to take my partner to the hospital. We can wait until your done thinking about what you've done, if you'd like."

She looked up at the man and gritted her teeth before answering. "Go ahead, I'll come by later and file a report."

Just as quickly as she responded, the man picked up his wounded partner and flew into the trees, the rustling of the leaves making it apparent that they had made their exit. Sakura sighed, rubbing her temples feverishly while tapping her heel. She was stressed, tired and worried and where was her sensei again? She let the anger-propelled chakra flow freely to her knuckles and swung herself around on one foot, lunging her arm towards the tree. It stopped about two inches in front of the lucky birch and her eyes widened when the cloak of her sensei curled around his form.

"H-how..?"

"Through experimentation and observation, I have merged certain cells with my chakra and used complex molecules to catalyze the effect. In turn, it causes my chakra's cell regeneration process to speed up even though excess chakra has not been used. Inevitably, my chakra flow is nearly tripled although the veins have not gotten any larger. It causes my chakra to be expelled in large amounts, strengthening it after the miniscule chakra molecules interact with oxygen and hydrogen. It creates a hard chakra that can withstand almost any blow."

Sakura stepped back, cutting her eyes at her smirking sensei. After what had happened, nothing surprised her. "Kazuki-sensei, why were you being a coward? Why couldn't you face me?" Sakura said, her anger clearly causing her to forget about Kazuki's _small_ explanation.

"Kunoichi, you weren't able to defeat my Kuchiyose. How do you expect to defeat me?"

Sakura, frustrated, jumped into the nearest tree and set off towards Konoha's gates. Kazuki merely sighed when he noticed the lone tear dissipate as it flew carelessly through the air, carried by the winter's cold chill.

* * *

A large mahogany door slowly creaked opened and a tall man tip toed through, careful not to wake the sleeping beauty behind the oversized desk scattered with a plethora of different types of essential documents. Lee assumed that they must not have been that important because they were currently in a disheveled mess. Photos of missing-nins were on the left side in no apparent order; the edges were given dog ears and were crumpled until it didn't resemble a photo at all. The law documents were in a neat pile--on the floor beside the garbage bin which just so happened to be full with academy honour students...although there didn't seem to be many. 

Lee inwardly smirked. If it had been when he was in the academy, the garbage bin would have been at full capacity. He also cringed, figuring out that youth with potential were being taught such insuffient things.

"What a waste of their springtime of youth," he said to no one in particular although it did awaken one sleepy fifth Hokage.

She looked up at him through clouded eyes, her face scrunched in a strange attempt to figure out who he was. Her hair cascaded down and landed gracefully on her back and shoulders. Lee noticed it wasn't in it's usual pontytail. He presumed that she must have been drinking a lot lately. Something on her mind, maybe?

"Lee, whhaattt ddddoooo yyoooouuuu wwwaaannnt?"

Definetaly. She had been drinking a lot by the incessant slurring of her many words. He smiled at her apologetically, feeling quite sorry for her. She was going to have a side splitting headache in just a few moments.

"Hokage-sama, have Kakashi-san and Neji-san returned and given you the mission report?"

She clutched her head and shut her eyes tightly, hissing as an eruption of firey pain started a throbbing pain in her head. She drew chakra to her feet and jolted backwards in her swivel chair, crashing threw the window in one swift motion. Lee stood there dumfounded before the actual seriousness of the situation dawned on him. He sprinted to the broken glass, being extremely careful not to fall over himself. He stretched his neck forward and his mouth fell agape when he saw the chair lying flatly on a battered Naruto.

He searched around frantically for the Hokage and yelped when she appeared right in front of him.

"I mmmmaaaaayyy ooffff hhaaaadddd tooo muuccchhh ssaaaakkkeee bbbuuutttt I aaaammmm nnnnooottt sssstttuuuupppiiiiiddd." She smiled and her body tossed back and forth while she stood on the side of the building, her feet sticking to the building like an adhesive substance.

Lee offered Tsunade a hand but she shooed it away, slowly ascending up the wall while civilians gazed from far below. Naruto coughed and hacked up blood onto his calloused hands before getting up and brushing off his _new_ orange jump suit.

It wasn't that it was different--it was just new. Lee had been one of the lucky ones and was fortunate enough to see inside Naruto's closest, which looked like the aurora borealis, but for Halloween. It was basically an array of orange and black, all assembled in a fashionable order which Lee happened to admire.

His thoughts were ruptured when a large thump rang in his ears. He glanced over the edge and instantly ran down the side of the building when he saw Tsunade, Naruto, and a chair.

Naruto under the chair, which happened to be under Tsunade.

"My report is going to have to wait," Lee mumbled, jumping onto the cement and waving at all the flabbergasted onlookers.

* * *

Sakura inched closer to the hospital clerk but slowed her steps every time she came a small fraction closer to her destination. She was about to find out who she had hurt severly and accept her verbal punishment. She was prepared. Well, at least physcologically. She had even yelled at herself in the mirror to prepare for the onslaught of profane and rude words that were to fly in her face in a few moments. She had also asked Ino to meet her in front of the academy to help. Ino had easily named off all of Sakura's insecurites, which took more time than Sakura expected and liked. And to add to her misfortune, all of the academy's students were out for kunai practice but they all seemed to halt mid step upon hearing the precise words: bitchy baby. 

But that's what friends are for, right?

"Sakura-san, is there anyone you're looking for?" Hinata shyly asked, her fingers still plastered to the keys of the hospital phone. Sakura looked up and raised her eyebrows before returning the smile and calming herself. Hinata had chosen to become a clerk to pass the winter months because she was on temporary leave. She confided in Sakura more often than not and their relationship had grown as were the people entering the hospital. Although the shift seemed to never end on shady days, the two always connected through simple smiles and gestures. Hinata had learned plenty from Sakura and even watched Sakura preform surgery on Naruto. Upon completion, Sakura had ripped open Naruto's jacket (which she later had to repay for damages) and inspected his seal. Sadly, Hinata blushed furiously and exited the room.

Sakura had Hinata to thank for many accomplishments. A patient would enter and Sakura would need the help of Hinata's Byakugan to inspect the damage and see if it may have spread to other organs or even to the extent of destroying cells. They used eachother as back supports and were the best of friends.

"I'm looking for the patient with a severely broken hand," Sakura replied, trying her best not to look upset although her face was contradicting her hopes.

"Oh, I saw him come by. Kakashi was carrying him but I wasn't unable to see who it was. Sorry. Oh umm, it's room 3b. It's the first on the left."

Sakura smiled and made her way to the room. Why did it feel like she was about to enter a funeral gathering?

"Wait Kakashi...huh? If Kakashi was carrying him then that must mean..." Sakura began to mumble to herself as she headed down the surprisingly empty hallway. "...He was the one who talked rudely to me! Oh, wait until I see him!" Sakura drew her fingers into the most menacing fist she could conjure up and turned into the room. She looked up and scowled at Kakashi then hastily changed views to the hospital bed. On it sat Neji, his hand hoisted up by chords and bandages.

Sakura's mouth fell agape and her tongue literally swung out as she swiveled on one foot and exited the room. Kakashi and Neji exchanged glances and watched her go to the opposite wall, her Jounin cape twisting as she stormed down the hall.

She tapped her foot when she reached Hinata's desk, earning a perplexed look from the pearly eyed woman. Sakura bit her lip, grabbing her ponytail and ripping out the band, releasing her pink locks.

"Neji..?"

Hinata backed up and looked at Sakura for a moment before she realized what was going on. "Oh, it seems that Neji had all the bones in his hand broken. Whoever did that must have been strong!" Hinata pouted at Sakura and instantaneously let out a gasp. "Wait. Sakura and Neji. Sakura's strength and Neji's hand...hello?" Hinata's head frantically changed directions, searching for Sakura. She cracked a smile when she saw a flash of pink enter 3b.

---

She sat down on the only available chair next to Kakashi's and smiled at him, attempting to hide the creeping chance of tears that was slowly making it's way to her eyes. She then looked at Neji who was staring at her with serious intensity, sending a wave of shivers down her spine. She immediately tore her gaze away from him and bowed her head, trying to configure what happened so that she didn't seem like a fool when she explained to them. 

The silence in the room was choking but Sakura didn't seem to mind as she fidgeted with her fingers, twidling her thumbs in a rythmic pattern to loosen her tense mind.

She felt the same type of 'failure' silence when she entered the same hospital room that was Naruto was in twelve years ago. She saw a battered Naruto sitting up on the bed, bandages covering him from head to toe as Shikamaru struck small talk with him. She felt bad for interrupting them but she felt the urge to ask if Sasuke was back. But one look from Naruto and she knew that her hopes had been shattered.

It also seemed that her hopes had been shattered now too. The doubts of her capabilities started to surface in her brain. Everytime it pulsed, a new and worse memory resurfaced, causing Sakura to clench her fist harder. Kakashi and Neji noticed her change but failed to say anything as Sakura began to hiss.

She was a failure. She was never able to do anything right. The only talent she has was her great chakra control which she seemed to use horribly anyway. Everything she did was a burden to others and they didn't hide it from her to save her. They told her bluntly that she wasn't worth the time, the effort, or the breath. She wasn't even able to pass the anbu test. Actually, it wasn't even the anbu test that she failed. It was the ­_pre­-anbu_ test.

"It was my Byakugan." A voice rose from the silence and Sakura snapped her head up, rubbing under her left eye to check for escaping tears. None had fallen, yet. Kakashi looked at Sakura and she tore her gaze away from Neji to look at the interesting beige wall beside him.

"You were after that Kuchiyose. You lured it into the clearing and threw the smoke bomb. We had walked by and were caught in the permeating smoke. I activated my Byakugan as a precautionary measure but it seemed that your smoke bomb blocked it. I kept it on for surity and you felt my circulating chakra. What I don't understand is why you attacked me. The Kuchiyose had planned for all of this to happen and it's plan worked flawlessly. If you hadn't been so impatient, this could have been avoided."

Sakura swallowed her arising saliva quickly and looked at Neji confusingly. As always, he had his stoic impression on and Sakura couldn't pinpoint what he was thinking.

"But I felt only one chakra..."

"When you heal animals, don't you notice that they have a different chakra circulatory system than humans? Also, my bloodline limit is unique so most of my chakra flows through the main chakra veins to my eyes so I can maintain Byakugan for a longer period of time. And I even purposly pumped excess chakra to my eyes so that I could see farther because I didn't have the neccessary time to pinpoint your location. You're a medic, aren't you?"

"Y-yes..." Sakura meakly replied, her hands shaking.

"You know the circulatory systems like the back of your hand. You should at least be able to tell the difference," he spat, his voice similiar to that of Kakashi's earlier.

Sakura mentally repositioned all of his assumptions and shut her open mouth when she realized that everything he stated was correct. It hit her like a ton of bricks and Sakura's honour shattered along with her diaphragm.

"I don-t... I meaaan I ccan-" Sakura got up and made her way to the door. At the exit she turned around to face the two. She wasn't about to let Neji win another verbal argument. She'd have the last word.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken when you're in said situation you should not activate bloodline limits because you could risk the safety of your party. It tells any _smart_ enemy that there are more of you, especially when said person knows what bloodline limit you're using. You're precautionary measure was calculated wrong. Aren't you lucky I didn't strike you with full force? If I knew it was you...I just might have." She smiled and left the room to leave Neji and Kakashi to watch her back. Her fuming back.

Kakashi shook his head pathetically at Neji and left the room, closing the door once his body stepped out.

Had Neji pushed her too far?

* * *

"Mushi bunshin no jutsu." 

Petite bugs sprung from Shino's arms as he stepped back, avoiding the spreading toxins that were gathering around a darkened tree. The bugs took the form of himself and sprung behind Shino protectively. He pointed to adjacent tree and his clone easily hopped onto an unstable branch before quickly changing weapons. The clone took out two long chords and wrapped them around his wrists before sending chakra through them. Shino did the same but added more speed, motioning for the clone to strike. They both ran forward, whipping the chords out and drawing them back after the tips hit the soft wood.

The tree flexed, spewing out more toxins and the two hastily jumped to the side. Unfortunately, the clone inhaled some of it and dispersed itself back to kikaichu bugs before returning to Shino. Unbeknownst to Shino, the tree was being controlled by a shadow in the bushes and it was about to strike.

Shino's glasses tinted in the sunlight, causing his eyes to become apparent. Ignoring the sun's glare, he shot out his arm and bugs crawled from under his coat. They landed on the tree and although the toxins surrounding them, they seemed to be unaffected. They ate away at the trunk and the tree started to grimace. Suddenly, chakra spouted out from holes that Shino had not seen previously. The red chakra gently hoisted the bugs on it's leaves and suddenly they were gone. All that was left was miniscule black spots floating and being carried off by the wind.

"Who are you?" Shino asked impatiently.

"I need you for my experiment," the voice replied. Shino immediately took a defensive position as a momentary rustle of leaves caught his attention. He whipped to his right and hissed when a weapon embedded itself in his shoulder. He fell to his knees and grabbed the kunai, using all his strength to pull it out.

"You can't pull it out."

Shino looked above him and saw a cloak overthrow the sun's beams for a swift moment before a pain stung his body.

"P-poison..." Shino muttered, feeling foolish for not being able to defeat a tree. He didn't even choose to acknowledge the man before him.

"Yes, it's poison but that isn't why you aren't able to take out the kunai. You see, I struck you so that the tip of the kunai that was laced with poison ended up right on the main chakra vein in your arm. The poison slipped off and flowed through the vein. But! It did not affect your chakra. It just made the chakra that I infused in the weapon magnetic. The poison just acts as a reinforcer of sorts. Impressive isn't it?"

Shino looked up at the man and bit his lip to ease the pain.

"I'll be taking you now. You'll have to stay with your fellow Konohagakure residents. By the way, _happy birthday_."

TBC

_: You'll understand soon. You can figure out what day this was by checking Shino's birthday. Also, this is a Neji x Sakura fic which means that love is involved somewhere in the plot. Note that it's Action/Adventure/Romance not Romance/Action/Adventure._

Please Read and Review!


	4. Forcing

Kakashi followed a pathetically wailing Sakura down the hall and onto the training grounds across from the quiet hospital. He approached her silently but stopped occasionally--mostly when he felt her chakra go through a drastic increase with full intensity. He had already been caught in the onslaught of several blasts and he wasn't prepared to become a victim of another. Especially from his former student who just happened to be the most emotional one of the trio.

And anyway, it wasn't like Kakashi was _able_ to comfort Sakura. The first time Kakashi tried to comfort Sakura was when she was six. He was in his prime years in ANBU and he had gone on a mission with Sakura's father to Takigakure. Some poorly trained shinobi had started to reek havoc on the unsuspecting citizens when Shibuki, their leader, had gone to a funeral for Gaara's father, Sunagakure's kazekage. Their jutsu seemed to be ice based, much like Haku's. They had also called it hyoton but it did differ from the actual bloodline limit Haku possessed. It enabled the user to manipulate large amounts of water and mix it with their chakra alone to create ice.

The cowardly shinobi had decided that Takigakure was the best known place and was plentiful with water supplies although they failed to remember Kiragakure itself. Unfortunately, Kakashi and Sakura's father weren't surprised when the shinobi quickly surrendered, bowing down to them and begging for mercy. Kakashi, being the egotistical sixteen year old, smirked and kicked one of the men in the stomach. The man had toppled over and Sakura's father grabbed Kakashi's shoulder. He had scolded Kakashi for his immature actions and Kakashi had mouthed off.

Nothing else had come out of it but when Sakura got home from another quarrel with Ino over Sasuke, she had entered through the shoji and met with the face of one troubled father. She had politely asked what troubled him and he had told her that one of his team-mates had been rude but it was nothing to worry about.

Contrary to his words, Sakura had ran around Konohagakure yelling and screaming and demanding to know who had done such a terrible deed. Kakashi happened to be at the bookstore beside Ino's flower shop looking for an interesting read. He had spotted the pink haired girl and just as easily ignored her incessant nagging. She had marched up to him, smacking his hand away from the mysterious orange book he was about to pick up.

"I demand to know who had done something so horrible to my daddy!" She had wailed terribly loud and Kakashi pulled his mask up over his ears.

"I don't know little girl. Please leave me be."

Sakura ignored him and continued her rant. "My name is Haruno Sakura and I'm the daughter of your team-mate! It was you, wasn't it?" She had caught Kakashi's attention now and he backed up, kneeling down to level their eyes. Jade met black and they stared at each other for a second, Sakura being clearly agitated while Kakashi stayed calm and collective.

"How do you assume that I, Hatake Kakashi, of all of your father's team-mates, could have done something like that?"

She had pondered the reasoning for a moment but a light dawned in her brain and she smiled. "A cute boy, not as cute as Sasuke-kun, had said that when people move their eyes 32 degrees to the left meant that they were lying."

"I hadn't denied your accusations though." Then Sakura had huffed at him, raising her hand and slapping him right across the face. Kakashi hadn't moved because he felt that he did deserve it for causing so much misery to a worried little girl. Sakura had then raised her hand a second time but he quickly grabbed it. "I'm sorry, ok?"

"Shut up!" Sakura decided that it was the right time to learn about what happens when you strike a man's genitals so she did just that. Kakashi fell back in excruciating pain and she smiled. "I am just like my father," she had said proudly, before marching off with some of Kakashi's dignity on the scrapes in her hand.

As of now, Kakashi was currently staring at the sky with clouded eyes and Sakura took this chance to huff. He cast his eyes upon her and followed it by a strained 'I'm sorry.' Sakura looked at him quizzically before he realized what was going on. He took a step back for his own safety but when he noticed her confused expression he waved to her. The last thing he needed was a mad Sakura who thought that Kakashi thought she was still that conniving six year old.

Sakura inched closer, wiping a cascading tear from her eye. She crossed her arms instinctively and gave him a glare which he gladly accepted with grace.

"Aren't you going to comfort me?" Sakura asked, wondering why he had followed her out and stood there pondering for the longest time. She tried to find any hint of feeling in his one eye but sighed when all she found was the orb of darkness that revealed nothing.

"Sakura, you know I don't have the ability to comfort someone."

Sakura laughed half-heartedly and gave Kakashi her contagious smile. Of course, all she could make out were the minute creases that popped out near the ends of his face under his mask.

"Well, I'm alright if you need to know. I'm off to find sensei so I can continue my _worthwhile training_. Tell Neji that I hope he gets better. Unfortunately, I'm not able to cure his rare case of 'stick-up-the-ass' syndrome. One day I might just walk up to him and take it out...then smack him with it. He'd be cured then...right?"

"Wel--"

"Hopefully," Sakura said, walking off into the distance as Kakashi stood there scratching the back of his head. Yep, she was definitely mad.

* * *

Two buff men burst through large mahogany doors, panting while adjusting their ANBU masks. They looked directly in front of them and a huff escaped the men as they noticed the dishevelled mess everywhere. They both turned their heads instantly as they heard a long groan and a gasp on the right. Immediately running to the two people, they pulled off their ANBU masks and bent over to help the inebriated Hokage. One man got up and stared at the person kneeling beside the Hokage, revealing at the shiny hair that lit up the gloomy room.

"Are you Gai-sempai?" He asked, scratching his brown locks in pure confusion.

Lee looked up at the two figures with mock tears in his eyes. He cuffed his fists and shot them into the air as a strange aura started to loom around the figures. "One of you, get Sakura-san! Hokage-sama needs her expertise!"

The two men looked at each other for a fraction of a second before they both looked from the man in the green suit to the Hokage. Lee's green suit was torn in several places, bloody, slightly dampened, and leaking from the openings. One ANBU reluctantly walked up to Lee, pulling his leg on top of his thigh to inspect the damage.

"What are you doing?" Lee asked, concerned for his and Tsunade's health.

"Glass, you were cut by glass." The ANBU that was inspecting Lee clenched his teeth before he glanced at the Hokage. She was also cut in several places, with bruises and abrasions on her face. Her eyes were slightly darker, with a glazed hue that reflected off the sunlight that shone through the broken window. The second man rushed to the window and peered outside to see a chair literally destroyed at the bottom and a man with yellow spiky hair cursing. The ANBU member jumped out of the window and landed on the approaching ground swiftly, gaining the attention of a battered Naruto.

"What is going on here? First a flying chair, then a flying Hokage, then a flying Lee, then a flying ANBU! What else is going to fly down, a freakin' pig?" Naruto yelled while the town's people gathered around with uncertain steps.

"Sir, do you know of any past disappearances in the last month or so?" The ANBU asked, unbeknownst to him that the boy he was talking to held the nine tailed fox's spirit and power in his stomach. Naruto ignored the man's question and stormed past him, running up the side of the wall and into the Hokage's office. He ran over to Lee and grabbed him ungracefully by his collar, hoisting him up to his eye level.

"What is going on? Someone tell me now!" Naruto demanded, his voice becoming deeper as his huffs receded.

"Hokage-sama has had an accident. Get Sakura-san!" The surety in his voice caused Naruto to drop him onto the floor and ponder whether or not he should listen to the man. He didn't seem very assuring in his green torn suit. But nevertheless, Naruto blew through the doors once he saw the Hokage lying there, in a worst state than when she fought his Orochimaru.

* * *

Sakura eagerly blew through the hordes of people surrounding an interesting scene. She glanced to her right but one villager's head was so large that it completely blocked her view of what was going on. She looked up and noticed the large cracks in the Hokage's window but chose to ignore it. Being Tsunade's student taught Sakura that no one could seriously harm the Hokage herself, especially Naruto. Feeling that everything was alright, she slowed her steps and carefully manoeuvred her way through the town's people. Her thoughts lingered to her fight with her sensei earlier.

She needed to gain more skills in taijutsu. She had figured that much out when she faced her sensei's kuchiyose. In close combat, she had no skills whatsoever and it weakened her greatly. As a medic ninja, she needed to be able to fight in close combat with shosen jutsu since it was a medical ninja's famous technique. Naruto had told her about the time when he was nearly beat to death by Kabuto when he was using that technique and Sakura was amazed. Such a technique could be used to kill someone? Unfortunately, Sakura was not able to kill anyone with that technique.

She was horrible at taijutsu and Kazuki showed her that first hand. He purposely told the beast to beat her to the point where she was in excruciating pain just so that he could prove his point. At that moment, Sakura just wanted to kill Kakashi for not teaching her any essential skills, not even weapon mastery! But she was also hit with a pang of guilt for not being responsible enough to take the initiative to train herself.

But none of that mattered now. She needed to train and learn from someone more experienced. The first person that came to mind was Lee and Sakura instantly grinned. Lee would do anything for her and she needed him most. Suddenly Sakura stopped, standing in the middle of a park with a twisted face. She couldn't use Lee like that. She couldn't take advantage of his kindness for her own selfish measures. It was disrespectful and downright rude. The only choice she had left was sucking up to him.

How does one suck up to a boy that always talks about the power of youth and is always dressed in green? This question racked at Sakura's mind for a full five seconds before she decided to just meet him. She'd let it all play out. Fate would decide it for her.

_Ha, I'm sounding more like him... _

Sakura spat onto the adjacent birch tree and lifted one leg to jump into a tree when an arm grabbed her, stopping her venture. She turned around, her pink locks swinging right into the culprit's face. The person, now identified as a man, stepped back, stretching the skin under his eyes. Sakura pouted but that went unnoticed as she stepped back, her eyes meeting his. His eyes were a pearly white and Sakura squinted hers to make sure that her eyes weren't deceiving her.

"Are you a Hyuga?" Sakura hesitantly asked, scratching the back of her head.

"Yes, and I've come to deliver a message for you," the man said as Sakura stared him down from head to toe.

She assumed he was in his twenties and was shy considering he tapped his fingers together much like the way Hinata did when she was talking to Naruto. Sakura smiled and that's when she noticed his hair. It was a chestnut colour like Neji's but it was more apparent and defined. He probably took more care than any of his family members did with their hair and Sakura took that into account.

"So, is it that important?"

"Yes, Hiashi-sama would like to speak with you."

"Oh..." Sakura sighed, her arms planted at her sides. The man motioned for her to follow him and she did, the two disappearing as a cloud of smoke and cherry blossoms ignited in the air.

* * *

They both appeared on the front steps of the Hyuga mansion and Sakura suddenly bent down to tie her shoes, feeling somewhat insecure as of then. She didn't exactly understand why the contents of her stomach were doing waves and it worried her. She assumed that she was nervous. She had never been inside the Hyuga mansion before and only met some of the elders once. She was known to be boisterous but she knew when to respect people when necessary. The only problem was that she didn't know if respect was necessary. Something obviously was up if the head of the prestigious Hyuga clan decided that they needed to have a talk with _you._

Sakura didn't feel special at the moment--actually, it was basically the farthest thing away from that feeling. The tumbling in her stomach rose with each step and she didn't know how to react. She was becoming scared and she didn't know how to deal with it. Well, they couldn't do anything to her without the Hokage's permission.

Right?

Sakura began to doubt her thoughts as the man standing in front of her turned around to wave a hand before her face. Sakura clearly ignored the shaking hand. Her eyes were heavy and clouded and the man noticed this. Being a Hyuga, he also knew how eye movements related to feelings and emotions and he was proud to say that he was better than Neji when it came to interpreting them. He watched her eyes wobble and shoot to the left before slowly returning to the middle as though they were riding on bumpy waters.

Sakura shook her head and upturned her lips now aware that the man was waiting for her to stop her strange antics. He led her inside and they paced through a dimly lit hallway. There was a large vase that was probably painted before Sakura was born considering it had a painting of a woman in a small kimono clashing swords with the nine tails fox. Sakura found it very enticing and pretty and she nearly bumped heads with the man in front of her when he halted. Sakura mouthed an ow in pain and the man whipped around and covered her mouth.

She slit her eyes at him and he smiled while letting go of her and pointing his index finger upwards in front of his mouth. He grabbed her hand and they walked on the carpeted floor. Sakura loved every moment as she scanned each and every flower and painting on the wall. It was placed so strategically and she couldn't help but look at it. She knew that one painting must have been more expensive than anything she bought. A wave of jealousy washed over her but that went unnoticed as the two walked through a shoji leading into a small indoor training room.

Surprisingly, the room was very plain. Beige walls lightened the room to a certain extent as twin dragons intertwined their scaly, glittering bodies and fought on a small mat centered in the middle of the room. The only significance the walls held was the prime job--to maintain the structure of the room. No pictures or paintings adorned them except for a portrait of an older man placed to her left. His eyes were the same pearly white and he looked like an exact replica of Neji and as soon as she realized that, she turned her head away in mock shame. The last person she needed to think about was Neji.

Her head turned to the direction of another shoji as a man walked through and stood in front of them. The man that brought her to their mansion quickly bowed his head, mumbling something incoherent in that position. Sakura easily followed suit, not even knowing who the man was. He obviously was an important figure since he seemed to be the only person in special robes. The robes were a silky white and had a grained sketch of an ox embroidered on the left sleeve that shone in contrast to the bland room that the trio stood in.

The older man gave a stern stare to Sakura's accomplice and the man bowed again before hastily exiting the room, leaving Sakura with the figure. She smiled weakly and lifted her leg slowly to take a step into the room but froze in her position when her eyes met with that of the man's. Why was she so terrified? Why was he so terrifying?

"Do come in. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold," the man greeted, pointing her to the mat that was placed in the center of the room and the little girl that suddenly sat there casting her eyes on Sakura's awkward form. Sakura seethed inwardly. She had so politely stayed at the door awaiting his permission and he had given her such a cold glare when she had decided to take measured into her own hands. Then he had the nerve to say something like that. Although her thoughts wanted to give the man a piece of his mind, she reluctantly walked forward and knelt on the mat, bowing down to the sight in front of her.

The man smiled slightly and knelt down beside her, showing his respect by clasping his hands together and bowing his head slightly. He then turned her head to Sakura and began. "How come you bowed?"

Sakura looked up to the ceiling as if looking for the answer herself. It was a kind of reflex. "Well, you know when you do something so often that you kind of forget that you're doing it until someone reminds you. Instinct I guess," Sakura bowed her head and laughed silently before shifting her attention back to the man and the young girl, "It's just that the picture of the man up there looks so similar to yourself and you seem highly respected. I just assumed that he was respected too and since there are candle by his portrait I thought that maybe..." Sakura trailed off, suddenly feeling the atmosphere and wanting to change the subject.

Sakura glanced to her other side and gasped when she saw the empty mat and shoji wide open. She looked frantically around the room for any sign of the girl and tensed her shoulders. How could she disappear so easily? Sakura grinned. One of the great pros of being a Hyuga she mused.

"I'm deeply sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am Hiashi, head of the Hyuga clan. You must want to know why I've called you here Sakura-san." Sakura nodded pathetically as he spoke. He seemed like one of those human enigmas. Maybe he even had a split personality. Sakura couldn't pinpoint the reasons behind his cold yet soft demeanour and it was causing her body to become dense. He seemed so surreal and the girl beside him said nothing as her eyes continued to pierce through Sakura's thoughts.

"Truth be told, your skills are envied from all around, am I correct?"

Sakura tapped her cheek lightly, "I guess you could say something like that..."

"As the head of the Hyuga clan, I know all too well of the Byakugan and it's affects on the human body. Unfortunately, the genes that have been passed on through generations has weakened greatly. I'm afraid that our bloodline limit may become...extinct."

Sakura stared into his pearly orbs and her body stiffened when she noticed the sliver of worry that swam around in his pupils. It was this action that caused her to realize how important this meeting was really meant to be. There was no apparent reason why the Hyuga clan would need someone like her for an easy task and now Sakura was left to blame for setting her expectations extremely low. Also, she wouldn't be able to escape his mental grasp on her mind easily. What would become of her hard earned reputation as a pink haired medic ninja if she rejected an offer from the prestigious Hyuga clan?

She did not want to find out. But somehow, it all felt so sudden. It felt as if she had gone through this before, as though the spotlight was set on her to make the most appropriate decision or be shunned by her fellow shinobi, friends, and family. Well before she could contemplate all of the ways she could become an animate object or shrivel up and die, she had to hear the question.

"Where do _I _fit in?"

Hiashi picked up his cup with some herbal tea floating inside and gently sipped on it, seemingly intent on wasting more of Sakura's precious time. There were many more things she could have been doing at that moment and the most important one seemed to be finding Lee. Of course, you can't find anybody when you're virtually stuck inside the bland mansion of the Hyuga.

"Hanabi needs training in the medic field, especially eye healing, in order to accompany many clan members on missions that may require the use of Byakugan."

Sakura stared blankly at the younger girl now named Hanabi. Physically, she reminded Sakura of herself when she was younger and that caused a smile to creep onto her face even though she knew that Hanabi's skills surpassed her own at the same age. Nevertheless, would she accept the offer? She felt compelled to but she had to take into consideration the fact that she had to complete shifts in the hospital and go on missions. Did he fail to take into account that she was a kunoichi and therefore needed to protect her village also? It seemed that way as he stared at her for a reaction.

"I'm sorry Hiashi-sama but I'm unable to fulfill your request. As you already know, I'm a kunoichi and I vowed to protect Konoha and its inhabitants the day that I became a Chuunin. Also, as a medic ninja, my services are required by those who desperately need and request it in the hospital. I take great pride in my work and I do find it rather rude to...leave my clients behind to train your already excelling daughter. I'm sure Tsunade-sama or Shizune-san would be able to help you." Sakura finished, ready to leave the room and continue her search for the taijutsu master.

"I commend you active lifestyle in the maintenance of our shinobi and kunoichi and as a precautionary measure, I've humbly asked Hokage-sama to see to it that your duties are post-phoned until further notice. This basically means that your missions progress and assessment program has been cancelled and you're on temporary leave in the hospital."

Sakura's face after that statement would have caused a riot on the streets. It was perplexed, twisted into many different shapes and its deformed figure was nearly defying the laws of gravity and stretching the limits of her skin. The muscles in her face contracted, causing wrinkles to form in many places while her mouth was left agape to sway lightly as she brushed her tongue of her bottom teeth.

_The nerve of this man!_

She hadn't expected him to go to such drastic measures just to ensure that she would in fact accept his offer. He had probably stayed up all hours of the night to prepare himself for her onslaught of rejections and this was the effect. She had no choice now. The Hokage would be the next person on her case if she rejected. Inebriated, Tsunade would yell at Sakura and complain about the massive amount of paper work she had to complete for one measly person. As if her day could get any better.

Sakura sighed dejectedly and nodded an affirmative before quickly nodding the opposite direction. "If I'm on temporary leave and my assignments are cancelled, I won't get paid..." Sakura drawled, clearly aggravated at the man. He merely chuckled and replied.

"It is covered. I shall pay for every lesson you teach Hanabi while you're stay."

Sakura nodded and stood up, rubbing her nearly frozen fingers on her wool pants for heat. She was a fool to think that the Hyuga would put time and effort into reinforcing their wooden walls. Bowing to the two figures sitting on the mat, Sakura made her way to the shoji. A sudden realization struck her as she reached the edge, pulling herself around to look at the two.

"My stay?"

"Mhm," Hanabi replied, "You'll be staying at the Hyuga household in the guest bedroom while you train me!" Hanabi smiled and Sakura cringed. They're practically acting like her parents and that thought alone made Sakura's body instinctively shudder.

"...Does Neji live here?"

"Yea..." Hanabi trailed off, clearly uneasy when it came to the mention of his name. But that was not what Sakura literally lurched over for.

Could it possibly get any worse?

* * *

TBC

Note: Please take the time out to leave a review. It's greatly appreciated! 


	5. Disappearing

It had been several days since Sakura had seen any trace of Kazuki. She had bumped into her former teachers, Kakashi and Tsunade on separate occasions while embarking on a perilous adventure to calm her nerves. Ever since Hiashi had so nicely forced her to teach his daughter, Sakura had managed to only obliterate a wall once. It seemed to be a feat considering that, when tempted, Sakura could destroy a whole village. And the temptation didn't linger as she passed the crumbling gates which represented entry into one of the five villages. Unfortunately it was the village that she was born, raised, and lived in.

She waddled slowly to the only bench that was clearly in view, the rusting edges of the metal evident and foul smell of rotting fish being carried from a nearby shed. Her fingers were slightly wrinkled because she had handled so much water after healing the dramatically inebriated Hokage. She had also heard about Lee and his comrades' mission, but hadn't learned any specific details. Lee had also noted that he noticed a tall, shady figure wander through the obscuring woods, a cloak waving freely, trailing his mysterious form.

Sakura had scoffed at his choice words but was surprised to hear that it had been where the _incident_ occurred. It could have been her sensei but as far she remembered he wasn't wearing an overflowing cape that floated freely through the air, slicing the incoming wind cleanly and telling its own tale of pure youth. Although the wording was a tad bit strange, she had a gut feeling that it was her sensei. That was the exact physical feeling that ate away at her right now. All the other feelings were emotional save for the swirling chakra that circulated quite harshly at the tips of her knuckles, waiting to be freed and spread out like menacing spider webs so it could destroy the structure that connected to it. But the real physical feeling, the abdomen tingling sensation that was nudging her in the wrong direction was overpowering her senses.

Something was up and she knew, but her mind didn't want to know. Her mind couldn't quite grasp the fact that her new sensei, originally known as a respected chemical researcher, was up to no good. She didn't even have a legitimate reason to doubt his activities. It was low and showed no form of respect if she thought that way and it made her tense up. She had only known him for roughly two weeks but they had become accustomed to each other so easily. Unlike her academy sensei Iruka, Kazuki would never have intense nosebleeds when Naruto came by and rudely interrupted their spar to show Sakura a new and highly provocative technique. Unlike Kakashi, Kazuki would never be late and never carried around books to read and mock her while she was fighting him. Last and certainly least, unlike Tsunade, Kazuki would never drink unruly amounts of sake before challenging her to a fight or sentence her to unnecessary amounts of healing on animals that couldn't be healed...just for his own silly amusement.

He praised her when he felt that she deserved it and desired the best effort from it. He would not tolerate anything less and he gave her all his attention during their bouts. It was a lie to say that Sakura didn't enjoy being the only one praised but it would also be a lie if to say that she missed not having two others around. The quarrels, the silence, the love (which came in tightly coiled, barbed wire packages) was all that Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had shared with Kakashi and she enjoyed it with every fibre of her being. But being the only one taught and shown attention caused Sakura to become an attention needing person. Although she did not enjoy thinking of herself as one, it was all for the best considering that she would go out of her way to gain Kazuki's attention and keep it there for long periods of time.

It was the thrill of the moment that she was caught up in. She had never experienced anything so intense with her other teachers and the new feeling brought much anticipated excitement. Everyone noticed her brightened attitude in the morning and it was something to gossip about because _everyone_ knew that Sakura wasn't a morning person. They could hear her screams as pillows infused with chakra went flying through windows, pyjamas filled with orange books went crashing through roof tops and bodies adorned with spiky orange hair went smashing through doors. Yes, no one needed an alarm clock back then because, when in her prime, Sakura could inflict damage in unheard of calculations. It was not like anyone wanted to be there when she woke up in the morning anyway and Kakashi and Naruto never seemed to get accustomed to that.

But everything changed when Kazuki arrived and asked for a student of high calibre to train under him. Sakura had been under the strict tutelage of Tsunade at the time and she assumed that Tsunade had gotten quite bored of trying to tame the cherry blossom in the morning so she turned her over to Kazuki. He had happily obliged and Sakura had seen his face for the first time, gawking at the sight of it. His pale, mahogany eyes pierced through her as she stared at his face, seemingly entranced by his straight, bone white hair bound into a small ponytail with long bangs that sat freely by his cheeks. He was lightly tanned and that made the gawking all the more obvious as he smiled and walked up to her, bowing slightly and taking her hand in his before kissing it gently. A simple greeting, although he didn't ask for her name at the time.

"He doesn't need it since all he calls me is kunoichi," Sakura deadpanned to herself, clearly edgy about Lee and his one-sided encounter with that unidentified person. Her lack of luck was proven when a thought struck her. If she was training with Hanabi all the time, she would not have the time to see Kazuki! Sakura immediately shot up, turning on one heel and running towards the Hyuga manor. If she had learned one thing from her parents before they passed away silently, it was that the Haruno family should not be taken lightly. Don't let their pink hair and soft jade eyes fool you, they could be a force to be reckoned with and Sakura was prepared to prove that to the head of the clan. She didn't care about his infamous title anymore, this was all about her and she wasn't going to kiss his ass for some benefits.

Sakura chose to her way of traveling by jumping on houses because it was literally rush hour in Konoha. The streets were bustling with people, light tunes were carried ear to ear by a light wind, the sweet aroma of fleshly made dango and soumen opened nasal passages and to her delight, no one saw her that she recognised. The last thing she needed was a friendly conversation that blew into the long hours of the night with her previously goal simply forgotten and put to the side. With that in mind, Sakura quickened her pace slightly and turned onto a small shed before bouncing off hastily as to not cause any significant damage. She scanned the area and walked slowly up a nearly desolate street so attention could not be attracted to her. The street she was traveling on was actually classified as a dirt road and it led up to the Hyuga manor. She whistled a soft tune as she strolled along, her feet gently scraping the ground as if it would crumble under pressure. Her sweet tune was stopped when she felt a distinct chakra signature to her right.

"Byakugan I see. Who are you?" Sakura calmly asked although it did seem quite absurd to intrude.

"You can't come onto Hyuga property and ask who I am. What are you doing here, Sakura..." The man trailed off and Sakura shot her glance in his general direction when she saw the leaves rustle momentarily.

"I'm here to speak to Hiashi-sama on matters of utter importance. You know my name so I'm assuming that killing you would be a bad idea. Am I right?"

She heard the man's overconfident huff and turned around to find a slightly battered Neji standing a few feet away from her, his expression contradicting the sounds he was emitting.

"Yea, I am probably the last person you want to see. Is it because you escaped the hospital?!" Sakura accused, pointing a finger in his direction. She stared into his orbs and found a hint of nothing and their staring contest was leading nowhere. He suddenly disappeared and she gasped when she felt rough arms snake around her waist and pulls her back fiercely. She was stopped by a muscular body and a strange sensation pulsed through her; one that she had never felt before. The side of her head was knocked fiercely against a shoulder blade and Sakura's left ear felt the contracting flex of his deltoid muscle. Men always enjoyed teasing her and Neji proved it by holding her tightly than she would have liked. Her skin started to turn a soft red from bruising but Neji did not loosen his hold.

Pulling her ear closer to his mouth Neji whispered, "First of all, you can't kill me if you tried. Second of all, trespassing is not tolerated on Hyuga estate. Lastly, I could care less if it was you or Hokage-sama that stood before me. I fear no one, it's quite the opposite. Oh, and you better be prepared to see me more often since I have just been told that I'm unable to complete any missions in my current state." He held up a bandaged hand and Sakura inhaled, the guilt overwhelming her. "Don't you wish that you hadn't injured Hyuga Neji?"

The warm body that was pressed against Sakura's instantly was gone, leaving nothing but the words tingling on Sakura's earlobe. He had managed to scare her and now he was probably off to savour his victory while she stood there, fuming. He humiliated her and now she was about to enter the Hyuga estate...pissed? Did she want to get herself killed? Contemplating her options, Sakura failed to notice another similar chakra signature curl up beside her. The person tapped her on her side and Sakura literally jumped, suddenly feeling afraid about everything that managed to sneak its way into a five mile radius of her. She looked down to see white teeth beaming at her and mouth muscles stretching to their fullest extent.

"Sakura-sensei, why was Neji-nii-san just hugging you like that?" Hanabi asked, watching the widening orbs of Sakura. Sakura took a dramatic step back after realizing that Hanabi had saw what had just conspired between her and Neji. She quickly replaced her stunned look with a smile and patted Hanabi's head for safe measures.

"Well, you see..." Sakura started, clearly unsure of what to say to the young girl. She didn't want to lie but she didn't want to tell the whole truth either. "There was an ene--"

"Neji-nii-san and Sakura-sensei sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, then comes marriage--" Hanabi ran around Sakura in circular patterns frantically, insinuating that her and Neji's relationship was developing quickly and the last thing Sakura needed was a rampaging Hanabi with the wrong ideas implanted in her head. Sakura easily pursued Hanabi, picking her up and twirling her around with one confident arm while smiling happily. A new sensation powered Sakura as she twirled Hanabi around. It was as though she was missing out on something important. Leaving that unsolved thought in her head, she placed Hanabi down and grabbed her arm. With gentle grace, Sakura lifted Hanabi up and placed the young girl on her back. Then Sakura, sending a short burst of chakra to her feet, ran stealthily towards the Hyuga manor.

The funny sounds Hanabi were emitting was satisfaction enough. She temporarily forgot about her pre-planned encounter with Hiashi but chose not to dwell on it and instead decided to spend some quality time with her new student.

* * *

Tsunade stared blankly at the large with obvious face contractions revealing her doubtful expectations. Hopefully it would open swiftly and a cute man would come through with wonderful news and a scroll that held the answers to all her problems. Some of her problems were not in the immediate form of questions but they needed to be answered and, in her intoxicated state, she wasn't able to answer any of them. She was ill-prepared for such a venture into her mind to uncover the answers and in her wailing, failed to comprehend the painful reminders that would soon invade her head, starting with a simple, dull ache. She detested the pain and the misery and although gambling caused most of her problems, sake always seemed to heal them...and inevitably result in twice as many as she originally hope for. 

She sat at her desk as the backdrop lightened drastically and the sun seemed to rise slowly over her draping silhouette. She never moved; she always stayed steady and kept her mind in check even though others thought she was slowly morphing into an insane, drunk, old woman. Having held that title for many years under the scrutiny of the elder council and the atrocious antics of one Uzumaki Naruto, she didn't find it all too jarring. It was the fact that she failed to change herself for the better that caused her to twirl into such a state in the beginning. She couldn't take it and no one was there to support her. Jiraiya, who never seemed to be much more than a pest, was nowhere to be seen. Sakura seemed to be enjoying her free time thanks to Tsunade's current state. Her parent like comrade Shizune was also not accounted for which seemed to be the largest surprise, and the biggest downfall for Tsunade's brain cells out of this whole mess.

If it wasn't for the disappearances. If it wasn't for the villagers choosing to be reluctant and not come forward with any information. If it wasn't for the shinobi who could have at least done their duties as watchmen properly. If it wasn't for everyone, none of this crap would have happened.

All of Tsunade's selfish accusations and pointing of all her fingers and then some proved wrong after she realized that her childish thoughts were leading to more disappearances and less productive strategies. She needed a plan but her mind was unable to process the simple information of the missing people. Folders were scattered messily around her, all with separate cards of those who have vanished from her village in a mere two months. Every day to be more precise and add the melodramatic bashing of her head against a desk to her list of things to complete. Tsunade frantically sprawled her hands over the folders directly in front of her and ripped them open, her mouth twitching to reveal the newest victim.

_'Aburame Shino' _

Tsunade quickly skipped the first couple of paragraphs and a diagram depicting his family tree and confidential info about his bloodline limit.

_Birthday: January 23rd. _

"How? He seemed to know everyone's birthday. He seemed to know where everyone was located. He seemed to know what everyone looked like. He basically...seemed to know everyone!" Tsunade yelled to no one in particular, grabbing her dishevelled hair in pure aggravation.

If Shino was captured, the culprit must be someone of high intelligence and scoping abilities and a damn great shinobi. What if they weren't even male? All Tsunade could do was assume. That was all she was able to do and all her mind would let her. She had the innate ability to solve this problem and send them into oblivion with one animosity filled punch but her mind wouldn't let her accomplish her vile dreams.

The dreams she so desperately wanted to turn into realities. But no, her mind decided to go awry with the unheard of amount of sake input with each thought. She was drowning herself in it and enjoyed every moment of it excluding the squeamish aftermath. Her mind just didn't want her to find the spot where all the answers were, covered and shielded with deadly sins. It was that spot in someone's brain where answers to questions that weren't necessarily the best answers camped, quiet and silent. Only few uncovered this spot and used it to their advantage and it's safe to say that those people are dead. Tsunade felt compelled to let herself be overrun with easy and problem solving thoughts even though the consequences would be dire.

Shikamaru. She needed him and she needed his skills right now. She stood up and wiped the cascading tears from her eyes before putting on the best face she could present herself with. Walking to the door, she was surprised when Genma came bursting through without notice. He stopped right in front of her and bowed hastily and Tsunade looked down when his eyes failed to meet hers. He was grabbing his knees with white knuckles and panting heavily although he had gone through a tough day of training and it worried Tsunade. She placed a cool hand on his back and chakra surged through her veins, relaxing his acing back muscles. Suddenly feeling as though a weight was lifted off his shoulders, Genma slowly stood back vertically to look Tsunade in the eye with a clearly strange face.

"It seems as though Nara Shikamaru has gone missing," Genma huffed, still quite tired from his long sprint towards her office. Tsunade's eyes widened and she stepped back, clearly apalled at his blunt statement and mad all the same. What luck she was having.

"His birthday is in September, how could something like this have happened?" Tsunade quickly retorted, wanting a full explanation from someone who didn't even know half the story. Throughout all of the sudden news, she failed to even consider that the cases might not even be related. It was when Genma's face turned serious that she realized that he had probably acquired some new and important piece of information.

"Here." Genma dipped his hand into his Jounin vest and pulled out a small scrap piece of paper with the initials BB scribbled on the front. Tsunade tore it from his nearly cold grasp and opened the note.

_To Hokage-sama, _

Yes, you're confused now aren't you Hokage-sama? Believing that I, BB, would be stealing your villagers from right under your nose using their birthday date as a reference. I'm more clever and cunning than you perceive me to be Hokage-sama. Yes, you probably just asked Genma why Shikamaru was captured. It's quite simple really. He's smart and you're not so you were relying on his help. Of course, he's currently not in your possession anymore and there's nothing you can do about it so please...save us all the effort and give me what I want.

With love,

BB

Tsunade tore the paper into shreds before letting out a grunt and sitting back by her desk. She looked at Genma and he understood her completely, leaving the room with the door hanging off its hinges. He needed to find Sakura and quickly and Tsunade needed to quickly figure out what he wanted.

* * *

It didn't take long for Genma to find Sakura but it was certainly a surprise to find her with Hanabi. They were both on the medic training grounds and Sakura was crouched down to meet Hanabi's gaze as Genma watched both their right hands turn a green colour. He hadn't thought of Sakura as a teacher and it made him happy to know that more medics were being trained under one of the best. He had his own experiences without the abilities of a medic so he was one to know how much Konoha needed more. His gaze was averted to a kunai that went whipping past him. It easily embedded itself into the tree inches to his left and he looked up to find a, suddenly extremely tall, Haruno Sakura staring down on his crouching form. She offered him a hand and he gladly took it, jumping up so that she now had to crane her neck to look at him. Not letting his ego overtake his conscience, he smiled as a form of greeting and began to explain. 

"Hokage-sama requests your assistance. She asks that you go to her right away so that the problems can be taken care of quickly and efficiently. She will explain everything once you're there but she would like to let you know that if you accept the responsibility of handling such secret information then you must also accept the risk of missions, call-ins and such..." Genma finished, proud of his work partly due to the fact that Sakura was wearing one of the funniest faces he had ever seen.

It was a mixture of several expressions, none of which could be identified solely as happiness. Genma could sense the disruption in her chakra and took a small step back for safe measures. He did not want to be the target of her onslaught of rapid punches and kicks. If anyone should be, it was Kakashi considering Genma literally had a tooth to pick with him over the lack of Kakashi's wallet when he and Genma were done their nightly intakes of food and drinks.

Hanabi noticed Genma's miniscule step back after wondering why Sakura's chakra was doing back flips and belly flops. She stealthily followed suite but inched closer as Sakura's chakra started to flow evenly through her veins. They both looked at her for a moment and happened to exhale dejectedly at the same time. It created a larger sound and Sakura heard, snapping out of her fight with her inner self. Sakura had a gut feeling--intuition if you will, which told her that her sensei had something to do with it. Although she didn't want to openly admit that her heart was tainted with such thoughts, she knew that her intuition wasn't usually wrong.

Genma tapped Sakura's shoulder lightly and she snapped up, nearly knocking his chin into the air along with the rest of his body. He smiled and reminded her of what she had to do. He then politely asked Hanabi to go home and she nodded her head and left, after glomping Sakura several times and naming off all the techniques she wanted to learn the next time they met. Once the third party was out of sight, Genma and Sakura jumped to the roof tops and made their way to the Hokage's mansion.

They made it safely but the damages they caused with their chakra infused feet was troublesome. Genma didn't really care because he was known for being light on his feet but Sakura did because she knew that, when troubled, her chakra distribution was simply out of control. She didn't attempt to fix it and neither did anyone else. The reason being because they couldn't. If they mentioned one of Sakura's incapability, she would send them through the roof.

Genma walked up to the door and was about to knock when Sakura's mouth was covered by a gloved hand. She tried to fend off the person but stopped when she heard the familiar chuckle of her sensei. He let her go and she whipped around, smiling sheepishly at him. Kazuki gently tapped her forehead and she pouted, clearly uneasy about the bland recognition.

"Kazuki-sensei, have you been called by Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked, looking into his mahogany eyes. They seemed paler for a few moments but once he blinked, colour was restored and he looked just as handsome as any other shinobi bachelor in Konoha. He smiled and Sakura returned it just as equally but with more emphasis on the dimple creation.

"Kunoichi, it really doesn't matter what I'm up to. Have _you_ started taijutsu training with anyone?"

Sakura looked at him and covered her mouth when it dawned on her. In all her wallowing in despair, looking for a trainer, training someone, and crashing into totally strange acting Hyuga Nejis, Sakura had forgotten about the simple task of actually getting someone. Her mouth twitched and Kazuki took it as her non verbal reply to his question.

"Well, in that case you should ask a Hyuga. I've heard that their Jyuken style is very pleasing and requires excellent chakra control which you have."

Sakura grinned at him until the implications set in. Why did everything come down to the Hyugas? Sakura seemed to be having extremely bad luck or it was karma for beating up Naruto when Hinata was around. But seriously, she didn't deserve such a punishment. Sakura wasn't able to wish such a harsh consequence on anyone else because the thought of spending extra time with that family caused her to sweat bullets. If that wasn't hard enough to endure, then the fact that her I'm-so-cool-everyone-should-idol-me-like-Sakura-does sensei offering her the suggestion would be. She couldn't back out now unless she wanted to be the center of shinobi and kunoichi failure attention.

As Sakura was about to respond, the door creaked opened to reveal a worried Tsunade, holding a bottle of water. Water. That alone surprised Sakura immediately. Sakura was interrupted from saying hello to her when she noticed the electric gaze between Kazuki and the Hokage herself. Genma stood there, chewing gracefully on his senbon needle and fondling it, too busy to notice the showdown between Sakura's highly respected teachers.

Now Sakura really had her doubts about her sensei. The Hokage with a water bottle, staring at a man with pure animosity laced in her eyes. If that couldn't convince Sakura that something was wrong, then nothing would.

* * *

TBC 

Note from akbar1111112: TBC officially stands for The Bitchin Cat.

Note from Baka Kunoichi: Eh...


End file.
